Google Earth launched for Android Honeycomb

3D mapping service arrives on Android 3.0 tablets

Google has added another weapon to the Android 3.0 armory, by announcing that mapping service Google Earth is coming to Honeycomb tablets.

The new iteration of the app, which allows users to cruise around 197 million square miles of the planet, has been reworked for tablets like the Motorola Xoom.

The new update adds support for "fully textured 3D buildings" according to the announcement on the Google Mobile Blog.

Users can also "fly to their location" while adding easier access to search, Google Places and the Wikipedia entry for the location.

IMAX-like

Google says the new tablet-optimised version makes use of the larger screen by utilising content pop-ups without masking the view of your location.

"Moving from a mobile phone to a tablet was like going from a regular movie theatre to IMAX. We took advantage of the larger screen size, including features like content pop-ups appearing within Earth view, so you can see more information without switching back and forth between pages," said a post on the Google Blog.

With developers not exactly flooding the Android Market with top-of-the-range Honeycomb apps, it appears its going to be left up to Google again to do most of the heavy lifting. This looks like another big hitter from its mobile studio.